Cops hang their hats on what's underneath them
By Stephanie Farr Philadelphia Daily News
Some believe that a policeman's hat is a symbol of authority - if two cops arrive at a scene, the one with it on tends to command more respect. Other officers believe it's a tactical detriment, something that makes them an easy target in what is already a dangerous city to patrol. Despite the affinity or animosity officers have toward their police hats, many cops believe that it is what's kept underneath that protects them, inspires them or reminds them of just what they stand to lose. Most police hats are fashioned with a small, plastic pocket on the inner crown. Opinions range about what cops are supposed to keep in there - business cards, their names, Miranda warnings - but few ever do. The pockets instead have become a place for personal expression for men and women in a job in which the uniforms are, well, uniform. In the 35th District, headquartered at Broad and Champlost streets in Ogontz, the pockets alone aren't big enough anymore; the district has lost two officers in as many years.
Capt. John McCloskey had already filled his with the prayer card from Officer Chuck Cassidy's funeral when Officer John Pawlowski was killed in February. McCloskey now has Pawlowski's prayer card taped in beside Cassidy's.
"I keep a picture of Chuck Cassidy and John Pawlowski in my hat, in my wallet and in my car," he said. "It makes you feel like you've got the two guys looking over you and I believe they are."
Underneath all of the court notices and SEPTA train schedules in his hat, Officer Tim Taylor keeps three pamphlets from the funerals of fallen policemen. He used to have five, he said, but "unfortunately," it was getting "pretty crammed in there," and the older pamphlets were getting worn with time. Now, he just keeps the three most recent - Pawlowski's, Sgt. Timothy Simpson's and Sgt. Patrick McDonald's. "I feel like they're angels above my head," Taylor said.
Officer Ed McCoey, who has 39 years on the force - 14 of which he has spent in the 35th - keeps pamphlets from the plaque dedications to Cassidy and Officer Louis Vasger, who was killed during a robbery in 1973.
"The hat is something you always have with you and you don't have to change every day," McCoey said. "I do this as a memory to an officer and a friend." The pamphlet for Pawlowski's funeral Mass in Officer Ed McLaughlin's hat has obviously been wet and carefully dried again. The corners are wrinkled and the center is lightly stained.
The rain that has soaked his hat while he has walked foot patrol has filtered through to the pamphlet, leaving it looking much older than its five months. "Most guys have stuff somewhere just to remind you to be on your toes," he said.
Sgt. Stephen Johnson keeps a photo of his late grandfather, a former Philadelphia police officer, in his hat. "He's one of the reasons I wanted to be a cop," said Johnson, a third-generation officer. "I keep his picture to remember him and to remind me of the type of person and police officer I want to be."
After 23 years on the force, on Independence Day, Officer Ralph Maldonado hung up his hat.
Maldonado, who had been shot at four times in his career, said he asked God every day to protect him and bring him home safely. He kept a St. Michael's prayer card in his hat and, more importantly, he said, a photograph of his daughter. "I think carrying photos of your family has something to do with feeling that they are with you," he said. "That if something happens, you were near me when it did." St. Michael's prayer cards are a common item underneath police hats because he is considered the patron saint of police officers.
Haverford Sgt. Michael Glenn keeps a picture of his children, a funeral card and a St. Michael's prayer card under his hat. "Since my name is Michael, I get a ton of St. Michael stuff," he said.
"My wife gave me one prayer card, my mom gave me another and I just switch them out."
Detective Sgt. Michael Irey of the Nether Providence Police Department keeps a prayer card from a dead comrade and a St. Michael's prayer card that his mother gave to him. "The St. Michael's card is at least 16 years old," he said. "It's not the same hat but it's the same card.
"It's kept me safe so far." Collingdale Police Chief Bob Adams remembered when his dad, a former Radnor cop, used to carry a one-page map of the township folded in his hat.
Lansdowne Police Chief Daniel Kortan used to keep a laminated list of phone numbers in his hat, before the onset of cell phones.
"What's under police hats is as varied as the guys who wear them," he said. "There's no rhyme or reason, and I don't know any agency that mandates something be kept in that pocket."
Police Chief John Eller of Brookhaven, Delaware County, keeps a pair of flex cuffs - onetime-use plastic handcuffs - under his hat.
"In case you run out of handcuffs, it fits perfectly circular inside the hat," he said. Some cops use their hats as makeshift briefcases when not wearing them. One officer remembered a cop who kept his pipe and tobacco in his hat and in one station, guys could be seen carrying everything from Axe deodorant spray to traffic tickets, keys and city street guides. Many officers had never been asked what's under their hats before.
"A little less hair," one said.
Another asked: "You mean, besides my head?"
"I used to keep painkillers under mine," one detective said. "But not anymore."
Although most common, hats are far from the only places cops keep personal items.
Officer Tanya Little, Philadelphia police spokeswoman, keeps a St. John Neumann's medal in her patrol jacket.
"I'm not Catholic, but I put my hand in my pocket one day 10 years ago and there it was," she said. "I've just kept it in there and took it with me wherever I've gone since."
Sgt. Ray Evers, Philadelphia police spokesman, has kept a dollar bill in his vest, next to his heart, since the early 1990s. "I don't know where it came from," he said. "I just always kept it there and when I switch the vest, I move the dollar bill. "Everyone has a similar story of the mementos they keep that steer them in the right direction." Michael Broder, who worked for five years as the Philadelphia Police Department's chief psychologist, said it's understandable that officers carry around mementos and good-luck charms.
"They can use all the help they can get, especially in this city," he said. "One of the things police officers realize is that a lot of what happens is luck of the draw so they tend to be people who have faith. "They have to have some way of explaining what goes on every day. Faith - whatever kind - helps them to go out and do their jobs," he said. "My sense is that these items are just one other expression of that."
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